Padres pitcher JP Sablan looks at the batter during a semifinal game against the Bandits in the 2024 Tan Holdings Saipan Baseball League at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field on Friday night.
Padres designated hitter Jordan Suel prepares to swing it during a semifinal game against the Bandits in the 2024 Tan Holdings Saipan Baseball League at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field on Friday night.
THE pennant winners, the Falcons, and the runners-up, the Bandits, were eliminated by their respective foes, the No. 3 Padres and the No. 4 Cardinals, in the weather-delayed semi-final round of the 2024 Tan Holdings Saipan Baseball League.
The Padres and the Cardinals will vie for the championship in a best-of-three series starting Tuesday, Sept. 24. Game 2 is on Thursday, Sept. 26, and game 3, if necessary, is on Friday, Sept. 27.
The Padres showed no mercy in beating the Bandits, 10-5, at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field on Friday night, two weeks after the Cardinals shot down the Falcons with a 7-4 win on Sept. 8, 2024.
The Falcons secured the No. 1 slot in the regular season to claim the pennant by trouncing the White Sox, 14-3, in July. For their part, the Bandits advanced to the playoffs by beating the Sandlot, 7-1 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal game on Friday, Padres pitcher JP Sablan allowed only two hits and struck out one to silence the Bandits in the first two innings.
Six of the Padres’ baserunners pounded the homebase in the fourth inning with the designated hitter firing an RBI single and centerfield Ko Lifoifoi sending catcher Austin Benavente home with a sacrifice fly.
The Bandits scored five runs with right-fielder Niko Martin and left-fielder Tindin Guerrero contributing RBIs in the fifth in a losing attempt to catch up.
The Padres’ third baseman Tony Salas then blasted an RBI double in the seventh while Sablan added three more strikeouts in the eighth to secure their championship slot, 10-5.
